


hors d'oeuvres & learning curves

by whataboutateakettle



Category: Scorpion (TV 2014)
Genre: Double Dating, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-12
Updated: 2016-06-12
Packaged: 2018-07-14 10:01:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7166606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whataboutateakettle/pseuds/whataboutateakettle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Three geniuses and their human translator walk into a fancy restaurant.  It goes about as well as you'd hope.</p>
            </blockquote>





	hors d'oeuvres & learning curves

**Author's Note:**

  * For [WakeUpDreaming](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WakeUpDreaming/gifts).



> _The prompt:_ “Going on a double date to a fairly fancy restaurant when 75% of your party are socially impaired geniuses is bound to be a disaster. But, Paige thinks, it’ll be entertaining.”
> 
>  _The scene:_ As part of a reward for fixing some gaps in security at a billionaire’s company, the Scorpion team are gifted an all expenses evening at one of his Michelin restaurants. Newly Minted Couple TM Paige and Walter, and Happy and Toby decide to take this opportunity to go on their first (and maybe last) double date. 
> 
> _The author's warning:_  
>  a) This sort of ignores **everything** that happened in the finale (and also Tim, sorry Tim).  
>  b) I'd like to point out that before this I'd only ever written like 250 words each in Paige and Walter's POVs. So it was a (fun/interesting/stressful) challenge to go so much more in depth here. Hope I did them justice.

Paige uncaps her lipstick and leans towards the mirror, and pauses, the tube hovering in front of her lips as she looks at herself. 

So, tonight is bound to be a disaster. She’s not sure how or when or why, but dinner in one of the fanciest restaurants in Los Angeles, with three people who struggle with decorum... Well, she doesn’t need to be Sylvester to know the chances of something going wrong are pretty big. She can just hope that it will at least be entertaining.

_Be determined to have a good time, and you will. Be determined to have a good time and you will._

She takes a deep breath; she’s dealt with much, much worse than an awkward fancy dinner. “It’ll be fine, Paige,” she mutters to herself, swipes the dusty pink over her lips and smacks them together pointedly.

They see each other every day, so there’s really no reason to be anxious about this. She wasn’t even this anxious about her first two dates with Walter, she reminds herself.

It was nice, just spending time with him in the way she had wanted to in so long. He’s so good to Ralph and he’s so sweet to her. But this, this is their first time just being a couple in front of other people. This makes it even more real, yet another step forwards.

She’s starting to understand why Happy and Toby tried to keep their relationship quiet for as long as possible. She wonders if maybe she and Walter should have tried to do the same, but everyone already knows. 

It’ll be fine, she remind herself. Again. She’s just having dinner with two friends and her boyfriend, and then she’ll come home.

“Honey,” she calls out, clicks her lipstick shut and reaches over to put it in her purse, “Are you ready? We have to go!”

“I’ve been ready for ten minutes,” Ralph replies, standing at her doorway, backpack on his shoulders.

“Okay, great!” She smiles widely, ignores the sigh in his voice, “Let me just-” she swings her purse over her shoulder and look at herself in the mirror one more time, before reaching up and tousling her hair just a little.

She turns, to leave, takes two steps towards the doorway and stops when she realizes Ralph is staring at her.

“What is it?” Her mind rushes with worry for a second before he shrugs his shoulders and looks up at her with bright brown eyes.

“You look nice.”

Her face relaxes into a smile, much less forced that before, and she takes a quick couple of steps to reach and pull him into a quick hug.

* * *

He’s halfway through his book when he hears the shower turn off, and a couple minutes later Happy walks out, wrapped in a towel, her wet hair still dripping. “Why did we agree to this?” She asks, not looking at him, instead she heads straight towards her wardrobe and starts digging through it.

“Uh, because it’s free?!” He makes a face even though she's not looking. Does anyone need a better reason to do anything?! Sure, he gets why it’s kinda weird, and yeah, Walter may have his own reason for wanting to go, but he and Happy don’t really do the fancy dinner thing anymore.

 Free food and wine seems like a great reason to make an exception though.

“I still think it’s weird,” she muses. Her back is still turned to him but he can imagine her biting at her lip. “He’s our boss. We’re going on a date with our boss.”

He gets off the bed, tossing his book onto the bedside table, and walks over to her. He places a hand on her back and leans in closer.

“They’re also our friends,” he reminds her, before pressing his lips to her temple, still damp, and heading off to the shower himself.

* * *

He’s pulling his tie around his neck when he hears the door open downstairs and frowns. They’re early.

It’s not important, not really. He dismisses the slight flutter in his stomach, grabs the jacket off his bed and fights the urge to take one last glance at a mirror before heading downstairs. He can finish tying it later.

The flutter moves downstairs with him.

Toby, he suspects, would call it nerves, but he’s got nothing to be nervous about. It’s been almost two weeks since he told Paige how he feels about her, since she admitted she felt the same. They’ve been on two Real Dates, that's what Toby calls them, and each one has only strengthened his desire to spend more time with her.  He would have preferred more evenings with her, if their work had been permitting. That's all tonight it.

He reaches the bottom step, only to turn the corner and walks straight into Sylvester.

“Sly? What are you doing here?”

“I’m babysitting Ralph, remember? While you guys go out on your double date,” Sylvester reminds him, moves around him and heads towards his desk.

“Right, of course. Thank you, for that,” he says, feels foolish for forgetting, feels the flutter in his stomach all over again.

“Oh, I’m happy to do it!” Sylvester grins, pulls out a thumb drive from his pocket, “I’ve downloaded a series of online lectures from the MIT theoretical physics department that Ralph and I are going to marathon.”

“Yes, I believe that would be engaging for Ralph-”

“Who cares about that? It’s gonna be fun!” Sylvester claps his hands together and Walter can’t help but smile. 

“What’s gonna be fun?” a voice asks and Walter turns around to see Paige and Ralph standing there.

He pauses; she’s wearing a very flattering dress that accentuates her waist, and her eyes, and her hair hangs loosely over her shoulders. He opens his mouth.

“Did you get the lectures?” Ralph asks before anyone can say anything else. His eyes are wide with excitement, looking completely past him at Sylvester, “Even the ones on fringe theory?”

“I got the whole semesters worth!” Sylvester replies from behind him, and Ralph rushes away from Paige, rounds Walter and heads towards Sylvester’s desk.

“You, uh, you look lovely,” He manages to say finally.

Paige smiles, looks down at her feet for a moment. He notices, for some reason how her hair bounces moves over her shoulders and the flutter in his stomach grows stronger.

“Thank you, you look very handsome yourself,” she replies, looking up at him before leaning forward and pressing a kiss to his cheek.

He’s not sure what to say, and he’s not even sure why.

“Sylvester, are you sure you guys don’t want to join us?” She asks suddenly, looking over his shoulder .

“No thanks, the excessive silverware at fancy restaurants makes me anxious,” Sylvester replies.

He catches her eye at that and they both smile. “Okay,” she replies, her voice clear and her gaze steadily holding his.

* * *

She’s zipping up her dress when a hand stops her, and before she can ask what he’s doing she feels him sweep her hair over her shoulder and press his lips to the back of her neck.

“What are you doing?” she asks, though she’s not sure she really needs an answer.

“Telling you how great you look,” he replies before sucking gently on her skin.

She closes her eyes, trying not to enjoy it too much. “We have to leave in five minutes.”

Toby’s lips move around her neck, his beard scratching at her jawline and all of it turning into an itch if she’s not careful.

“Here’s the deal, if I can’t get you off in less than three minutes I’ll be the designated driver tonight and you can drink fancy French wine until you get giggly.” 

“Careful Doc,” she says, tries to even her voice as his hands are already pushing up her dress. She’s definitely not stopping him. “That sounds dangerously close to a bet.”

“S’not a bet,” he says. “A bet means someone loses. _This?_ This is a win-win situation.”

She raises an eyebrow, both turned on and simply amused by his cockiness. She turns towards him slightly and he’s leaning in with dark eyes and inviting lips when she holds a hand out against his chest, needs to get one thing straight first.

“Wine does not make me giggly.”

His lips quirk up like he doesn’t believe her before moving in again, and this time she lets him, kisses him back eagerly.

* * *

They can’t be seated until their whole party is here apparently, so they wait at the bar. Walter’s ordered her a glass of wine, and a sparkling water with lemon for himself, and she notes how his eyes keep glancing down towards her dress. She bites the inside of her lip to stop from looking as pleased as she feels.

The dress is new, yes, but it’s not like she necessarily bought it for tonight. This just seemed like he kind of place where she needed to wear something ... elegant.

“How’s the wine? The bartender said it was a good vintage but I don’t-”

“It’s great,” she cuts him off, smiling widely as she takes another sip. It’s not that she wants him to stop talking; it’s that he seems restless, more awkward than usual, and it’s making her feel the same. As many times as he’s glanced at her dress he’s also sighed loudly, adjusted his tie. And this is the third time he’s asking about her wine.

He’s making her nervous.  And she really doesn’t want to be nervous.

She takes another sip, smiling at him over the glass, and behind him she sees two familiar figures rush in.

“Oh, Happy and Toby are here!” she says, pulls at his shoulder until he turns around.

 “ _Sorry_ ,” Happy mutters, glances at Toby with narrow eyes before looking at them both apologetically, “It took us a bit longer to get here.”

“Yeah but we came. _I mean_ , we’re here now,” Toby says, quickly correctly himself.

She frowns, looks from Toby to Happy as she elbows him in the side and _oh god_.

“Let’s get seated, why don’t we?” She forces a smile, puts an arm through Walter’s elbow and pulls him with her. The very last way she wanted to start this dinner was with mental images of Happy and Toby getting it on.

* * *

The place is fancy. Uncomfortably fancy. The last nice time she’d been anywhere half this nice, she’d taken an hour to finish her drink and left a 50% tip out of embarrassment. It all makes her dress feel a little too tight and her shoes a little too tall.

A maître d’ shows them to their table, pulls out seats for both Paige and her, and she gives him a tight smile in thanks.

“Oh, before you go,” Toby says, sitting himself down next to her and opposite Walter. “Can we please have a bottle of your nicest wine for the table? I mean _nicest_.”

“What are you doing?” She hisses while the maître d’ nods agreeably, doesn’t mention that maître d’s aren’t supposed to take orders, and leaves.  

“What?” he asks, shoulders shrugging like this is all normal for them. He looks to Walter and Paige for support. “It’s not like we’re paying!”

“But you are driving,” she reminds him.

He turns to her and nods, “Exactly! If I’m only having one glass of wine, I’m gonna make it a good one.”

She stares at him with narrow eyes for a moment, contemplates the decisions that got her to this moment, until Walter clears his throat, and starts reading the menu out loud.

* * *

A waiter has just taken away their entrée plates. Sorry, _hors d’oeuvres_ plates. This is the first time he’s ever had caviar and he’s pretty sure it tasted even better because it was free.

The rest of them don’t seem to be getting the beauty of this evening. Happy picked at her beef carpaccio like she couldn’t figure out how to eat it, Walter has spent the last twenty minutes talking about the inefficacy of having three options of utensils, and Paige, well Paige keeps trying to sip her glass of wine, forgetting that she finished it around the time Walter moved onto the salad fork.

He can’t really figure out why Paige would be acting so strange, if anyone of them would feel even remotely comfortable in a place like this, a beacon of social cues and decency, it should be her.   

“ _Paige_ ,” he says, reaches over and picks up the bottle of wine. It tastes like the six hundred dollars it costs but which they don’t have to pay for, which means it tastes _amazing_. And he’s ever so slightly regretting his deal with Happy from earlier. “Have some more wine, please. This is killing me.”

He glances at Happy’s second glass, almost half gone, and at his own, miserably empty, one.

“Oh,” Paige starts, places a hand over her glass, “No, I’m okay, I shouldn’t.”

“Come on, you're allowed. It’s not like you’re even going home tonight,” he waves a hand. Seriously, he wished he’d had the good sense Walter had had right now.

“What are you talking about?” Paige asks, jerks her hand away from the glass and Toby uses the opportunity to fill it.

“I know about the room Walter booked upstairs,” he reminds her with a knowing grin until he catches her expression. “The one you don’t know about.”

Under the table he feels Happy punch her slap her hand against his thigh, probably a cue to shut up. He ignores it, turns to Walter, and points a finger at him, “You didn’t tell her?”  He looks back at Paige before continuing, “In my defense, I assumed he had told you.”

 “You _what?”_ Paige asks, staring at Walter, who looks like a deer trapped in the headlights.

 “I – I thought it would be, uh, romantic?” he flusters over his words, “Sylvester said he was happy to take Ralph overnight.”

Paige scoffs loudly, “That’s not the point Walter, you should have asked me!”

Walter frowns, and Toby can only hope that his friend doesn’t dig himself a deeper hole. “I don’t see the – I wanted to surprise you. I don’t see why this is such an issue?”

“She thinks you want to sleep with her, Walt,” he says with a sigh, gesturing at the space between them.

 “Toby!” Happy hisses next to him, squeezes his elbow tightly.

Paige’s face drops suddenly, and he can’t decide whether she’s embarrassed or upset or anxious? “I, um, I just need a moment,” she starts, pushing her chair back suddenly an standing up, “I’ll be right back.”

“Wait, _Paige_!” Walter moves to get up, steps away from his chair and crashes directly into a waiter carrying a tray of champagne flutes. The whole tray topples towards Walter’s chest and glasses falls to the grounds smashing around their feet. The waiter looks like he’s trying to hold off a panic attack.  

Seriously, it’s all kind of like watching a chain reaction pile-up on the freeway. And he can’t look away.

Walter grimaces, rubs at his wet suit, and takes a step back; crunching on some broken glass. The noise seems much louder than it needs to be, because, Toby realizes, and that everyone else in the room has stopped their hushed conversations to watch this mess unfold. And then it’s his turn to make a face.  

Eventually, Walter slumps down back into his seat, his front soaked and the waiter still apologizing profusely for something that was not his fault. When he’s gone there’s a moment of silence while they all try to recover from the discomfort of the situation. And then Happy sighs loudly, pulls her napkin from her lap and drops into onto the table.

“Crap.”

He turns to her, confused and concerned at the same time, “What?”

“She’s upset and she’s gone towards the bathrooms. Which one of us you think is gonna have to go see if she’s okay?” She looks at both of them, her eyes glaring, and Toby bites his tongue from defending himself once more.

* * *

The bathrooms are shinier than any bathroom needs to be. As she walks inside she finds Paige leaning against the marble counter top, staring at herself in the mirror. She glances over at Happy when she hears her come in, and then returns her gaze to the mirror.

Happy’s glad the stalls are all empty. She’s really not good at this pep talk thing, and she’s glad she doesn’t have an audience. 

“Sorry, I totally overreacted-” Paige starts, hands moving to playing with her hair.  

“Are you okay?” Happy interrupts her. Paige pauses, looks nervously at her feet and around the room, like she’s trying to decide to whether to answer.

“Do you think I’m rushing into things with Walter?”

* * *

“So you acknowledge that perhaps your input was not required tonight?” He stares over the table at Toby pointedly. _Or ever, really._ He had in fact thought about how this evening would got, but the scenario of Paige rushing to the bathroom upset, while Happy follows her and he stays at the table covered in champagne had not really occurred to him.

Toby nods a couple times, before raising both hands. “Hey I already apologized. For the record, this wouldn’t have happened if you _had told her about the room!_ ”

He sighs; he doesn’t need to hear this all over again. He admits, it was a mistake on his part. One that he will definitely not make again.  

“Seriously, O’Brien, why didn’t you tell her?!” Toby continues.

“I was going to, but when I sort of broached the subject she seemed evasive. I didn’t want to push it. I wasn’t even sure I was going to tell her about the reservation.”

That’s the truth; he still hadn’t decided whether he was just going to ignore the whole thing. And now, well he can’t anymore.

“Why do you think she reacted so poorly?” He asks suddenly, before he even really realizes the question is bothering him.

Toby shrugs gently, more out thoughtfulness than carelessness. “I’d say she’s nervous. You two have a lot at stake: your friendship, your work, Ralph. While the last couple of weeks may have been nice-”

“They’ve been very enjoyable.”

“Maybe she feels like sex is that final step there’s no coming back from. The final step in moving your relationship from platonic to romantic.”

He takes in Toby’s words, and he has to admit he has a point.

“Or maybe she just doesn’t find you that attractive,” Toby adds, shoulders shrugging much more emphatically this time. He’s looks like he’s holding back a laugh.

Walter sighs again.

* * *

Paige wasn’t sure she was going to talk to anyone about this, let alone anyone from Scorpion. But just the fact that Happy followed her in here somehow makes her want to tell her everything. She suspects Toby would say she was looking for any reason to say it.

Happy’s frozen for a moment, understandably uncomfortable by what she’s brought up. “I don’t-”

Paige sighs, turns to lean with her back against the counter now. “Sorry, I shouldn’t even be telling you this. I just – I like Walter. I really, _really_ like him and he’s so good with Ralph and he’s very attractive-”

“I get it,” Happy, nods, moves until she’s leaning against the counter next to her, “So what’s the problem?”

“I feel like... if I take the next step with Walter, there’s no going back. And I don’t want to rush into anything that could hurt his relationship with Ralph.”

To be honest it kind of scares her, how much of a father figure Walter is to Ralph. It’s a lovely thing, but at the same time she has spent so much time preparing herself for the fact that Ralph didn’t have that, that she was it and she was terrified of screwing it up.  And now, she has the opportunity to let this connection grow between them and she’s still terrified of screwing it up.

“It won’t,” Happy says with certainty, “If anyone can compartmentalize it’s Walter. No matter what happens between you two he’ll always be there for the kid.”

Paige smiles a little, still not entirely convinced. Next to her Happy fidgets a little, and takes a breath.

“Look, I get the being scared thing. Not wanting to rush it. Not wanting to admit how serious it feels.  But I think you need to kind of let it happen and uh, trust them with it.” Happy says slowly, quietly, like she doesn’t quite trust herself with her advice. Paige thinks back to finding out that Happy and Toby were dating, the chaos it caused for all of them. Toby won’t ever quite let them forget it, but she’s never really been forced to consider what it meant for them, for Happy, to take that step, to move forward together.

“For the record,” Happy continues, “I’ve never seen him the way he is with you. You’re good for him.”

She really does smile at this, places a hand on Happy’s shoulder, “You know, you’re good for Toby too.”

They both pause for a moment to relive what had happened at the table just moments ago. She laughs and Happy lets out a short giggle before coughing loudly, almost deliberately.

* * *

Toby nods to something behind him and Walter looks over his shoulder to see Happy and Paige making their way through the tables back towards them. He feels relieved, especially as Paige does not look nearly as upset as she did before.

Paige takes her seat next to him a moment later, and he can hear Happy and Toby saying something to each other, but he’s actively focusing on Paige, waiting for her to speak.

“I’m sorry I stormed off,” she starts, smiles at him apologetically. She looks down, eyes his damp chest and her smile falters a little but she doesn't ask him about it.

He frowns, knows that she doesn’t need to be apologizing at all. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done anything without talking to you first. I definitely didn’t mean to -”

He’s tapping his fingers against the table and she covers his hand with his, stop his movement. “It’s okay. I mean, I’m not saying – Let’s just enjoy the dinner for now and maybe we can talk about this later, somewhere less...” her voice trails off and her eyes dance around for a moment and he knows exactly what she means.

He nods, just as two waiters arrive with their main courses, as though they knew it was time to move on.

* * *

Happy’s frowning when she sits back down next to him, but it seems more thoughtful than upset.

“Everything okay?” He takes her own hand and squeezes it gently.

“I’ve never had to comfort someone in a bathroom before; I didn’t think it was a real thing,” Happy muses flatly, but he notices that she holds onto his hand.

He exhales a little in amusement, infinitely impressed by her, “Tell me later?”

She looks at him, and her frown quirks upwards into a smile, though equally as thoughtful. “Isn’t there a code about this stuff?”

He’s about to reply when a plate is set in front of him, and in front of everyone else. Across the table he can see Paige taking a sip of the wine that he’d poured for her earlier. And he’s no Sly, but he’s like 90% sure everything is going to be fine.

* * *

They say goodbye to Happy and Toby in the lobby, where the entrance to the restaurant joins the five-star hotel. She and Walter share a moment to comfortable but heavy silence as they watch their friends walk out.

“I’ll drive you home- Walter starts, and then continues saying something about how Ralph can still stay with Sylvester overnight, and he doesn’t stop until she places a hand on his shoulder, moves it up to the base of his neck.

“No. I mean, since we already have the reservation maybe we should use it. Even if we don’t do anything else, Walter, I like it when we get time to ourselves.”

He’s staring at her for a moment, but it’s with warm and caring eyes, and she can’t help but smile back at him. “I like that too,” he says finally.

“Good," she smiles, and it's real. She takes a step towards the hotel reception, and looks at him. "Do you think we should spring for some room service?”

* * *

He’s focusing the road, humming under his breath to the song on the radio when suddenly he feels Happy’s hand land on his thigh.

“What are you doing?” He asks, trying not to smile knowingly at the touch.

“I’m glad we don’t have to deal with any of that, don’t have to waste any more time,” she muses and for a second he's lost, he thinks maybe she’s had more to drink that he thought. But then it clicks, and yeah, maybe her rubbing her thumb over his pant leg helped a little.

“Oh I see how it is. French wine doesn’t make you giggly, just frisky,” he grins over at her.

She squeezes his thigh before taking her hand back. “Keep complaining, see where that gets you.”

“Never said I was complaining,” he says, and waits until he slows the car to a stop in front of red light before continuing, “Hey, I’d glad too. I never want to waste any time not being with you.”

She scoffs, but looks touched anyway, and pulls at his elbow a little until he leans over the middle towards her. She presses her lips to his, her hand cupping his cheek, a quiet moan shared between them. He thinks he would pick this over any bottle of fancy French wine ever.

* * *

She wakes up suddenly feeling attacked by the sunlight streaming through her windows, and remembers being too busy with her hands to close her blinds. She squints turns her head away from the light and towards the sleeping Toby next to her. He’ll be out for a while if she doesn’t wake him, she knows this from experience. And while usually she wouldn’t mind, uses the early morning hours more wisely than he ever could. But today she thinks about her owns words last night, about how much time Walter and Paige have spent not being together.

She nudges her elbow into his ribs sharply, and he splutters awake, looks around in a panic before piecing it together and narrowing his eyes at her.

“Really?”

She shrugs, and shuffles under the sheets and covers until she’s wrapped half her body around him. She feels him crane his neck and press a kiss into her hair.

“Hey, so do you think Paige and Walter got busy last night?” He asks after a moment, his voice almost gleefully curious.

She pushes herself up above him, “ _I don’t care_ ,” she says, and really, honestly, she doesn’t need to know. She leans down to kiss him deeply but quickly and pulls away. “And neither should you.”

Toby stares up at her with warm dark eyes and she gazes back, surprised at how quickly and fully he can pull her back into this feeling. 

“No, but-” he starts again and she cuts him off with her lips once again, more firmly, more deeply this time. He gets the message. 

* * *

“The bill has been taken care of, sir, so if you’ll just sign here to check out,” The concierge smiles at him and slides a piece of paper across the marble counter to him. “I hope you were satisfied with your stay.”

He glances over to Paige who is standing next to him, his suit jacket draped over her shoulders, and she looks at him at the same moment. It’s a moment where he almost wishes they didn’t have to leave, that they could stay in that room, just the two of them.

Paige smiles at him, at first it’s small, shy almost, and then it grows. There’s a gentle laugh she can’t hold back and it reaches her eyes and it makes the flutter in his stomach return but this time it feels completely different.

“Yes, thank you!” Paige finally pulls her gaze from him to the concierge, as though she just remembered where they were. “It was _lovely._ ” As she’s saying it she reaches out and takes his hand, her fingers intertwining with his, squeezing his hand gently. He squeezes back. 


End file.
